Strikeforce - Fedor vs. Rogers

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, Strikeforce will make its first foray into the Land of Lincoln with Strikeforce - Fedor vs. Rogers. The event will take place at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The event will be co-promoted by Strikeforce and M-1 Global and will air on a prime time slot on CBS in the United States. It will be televised in the United Kingdom at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday on Bravo. It will also be streamed live online at OmniSport.TV in all countries in which there are no exclusive television deals in place.

This will be the first time Strikeforce will host a prime time event that will be broadcasted live on CBS. It will also be the first time CBS has aired a live MMA event, since it previously partnered with the EliteXC in 2008. CBS aired three live EliteXC cards, before that partnership ended when the EliteXC folded in October 2008. Now after 13 months, CBS is eager to get back into the mix of MMA action with its new partnership with Strikeforce, which has been promoting martial arts events for nearly 20 years. Led by Strikeforce president Scott Coker and based out of San Jose, California, Strikeforce has quickly risen to the forefront of MMA after building up a strong regional fan base in northern California. The four main card bouts at Strikeforce - Fedor vs. Rogers are scheduled to air on CBS in the United States on tape-delay at 9:00 p.m. PST.

The main event is a bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers. Fedor is widely considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world and is regularly mentioned among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He will be defending his World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) heavyweight title on Saturday night, against Rogers, who is an undefeated, heavy-handed heavyweight prospect known for his devastating striking ability and over-powering physique. The winner of this bout will also more than likely get a shot at the Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem's heavyweight title early in 2010.

The main card will also feature a title bout in the Strikeforce middleweight division, as Jake Shields battles Jason "MayheM" Miller. Shields who won the Rumble on the Rock 4-man tournament in 2006 and the EliteXC welterweight title in 2008 will be moving up in weight to challenge the enigmatic "MayheM" after submitting the former Icon Sport and EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler at a Strikeforce event in June. "Mayhem" has fought for just about every major MMA promotion in the world, including the UFC, WEC, Icon Sport, HDNet Fights, and most recently DREAM in Japan. He is known for his flashy ring entrances, entertaining fighting style, and his personality which is regularly seen as he hosts MTV's hit show "Bully Beatdown". Coincidentally, "MayheM" has invited Shields on to the show as a special guest fighter on both seasons, since it first aired earlier this year. They will now face each other on Saturday night to determine who will be the next Strikeforce middleweight champion.

The main card will also include a bout featuring the Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi in a non-title affair. He won the belt in his debut fight for Strikeforce in August with an impressive first round TKO over the always dangerous Renato "Babalu" Sobral. The Dutch-Armenian champion Mousasi will now set his sights on the explosive striker and black belt judoka from Cameroon by the name of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou is a three-time veteran of the UFC and like Mousasi he has fought for both PRIDE and DREAM in Japan, where he has recently won a pair of bout's in the DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix, since being submitted by "Babalu" in an Affliction event in January of this year.

The final main card bout that is guaranteed to be aired on the CBS broadcast will take place in the heavyweight division. It will feature the experienced and talented submission expert Fabricio Werdum, who is fresh off of defending his ADCC +99 kg title at the end of September in Barcelona, Spain. In August, just one month prior to that, he submitted Mike Kyle in his Strikeforce debut. The jiu-jitsu black belt, who is also a veteran of PRIDE and the UFC, will now lock horns with a fellow Brazilian, as he takes on the massive Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Silva made a name for himself in the now defunct EliteXC organization, where he defeated the late Justin Eilers to become the first and only heavyweight champion for the organization. After the win, Silva tested positive for steroids and was suspended for one year by the CSAC. He has since won two bouts in the Japanese organization Sengoku, which is promoted by World Victory Road. The winner of this bout will move up the Strikeforce heavyweight pecking order and should find themselves ranked as a clear cut Top 10 heavyweight fighter.